By Rudie Obias | Updated 4 years ago

This article is more than 2 years old

asuka langley soryuBack in 2009, Japanese writer/animator Hideaki Anno re-imagined his seminal anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion with the Rebuild of Evangelion — or, as it’s known in Japan, Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition. After the original was released in 1995, Neon Genesis Evangelion has grown to be the most influential anime of it genre. Although the anime series is not as popular in the United States as it is in its native Japan, there is a small but vocal cult following in America that should be happy that the third installment in the Rebuild series is coming soon to a theater near you.

As reported on Crunchy Roll, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo will hit U.S. theaters in a touring limited release starting on January 10, 2014. The movie will also be on tour in Canada starting on January 11, courtesy of Eleven Arts and FUNimation. The new Evangelion movies will be English dubbed in the U.S., with Eleven Arts and FUNimation bringing back a majority of the original animated series’ English-speaking voice cast.

While the Rebuild of Evangelion film series features the original characters from the TV series, there are some notable additions to the cast of characters, including Mari Illustrious Makinami, the new pilot of the Provisional Evangelion Unit-05. Not only does the reboot take advantage of modern CGI technology, it also features new scenes, settings, and outcomes for its characters and narrative. In many ways, it’s a completely new series with the same characters and very familiar scenarios.

FUNimation also released a new teaser trailer to get fans excited. Although the teaser is brief, it’s packed full of energy and excitement that can only be delivered by Hideaki Anno. At the center of the film series is Shinji Ikari, the pilot of Unit-01. 3.0 takes place 15 years after Third Impact, a global catastrophe where the Human Instrumentality Project was achieved. The film follows Shinji Ikari re-learning how to live and defend the world from violent Angels.

Hideaki Anno has been developing the Rebuild of Evangelion reboot project since 2002, with the hopes to produce four new movies in the franchise. After the release of the original TV series, Anno made two sequel films, Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion. In 2009, Anno and Studio Khara launched Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, with its sequel Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance in 2010. The fourth and final film in the series, Evangelion: Final, is expected to be release in the States in the winter of 2015.

An American live-action version of Neon Genesis Evangelion has been in development for years. Peter Jackson’s WETA Workshop was involved in the very early stages of development beginning in 2004. WETA even produced concept art and a treatment for the project. At this point, it’s doubtful that a good American live-action remake could happen. The original source material is far too in-depth and complex for just one movie, or even a trilogy.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo will hit theaters in a touring limited release starting on January 10-29, 2014. Check out the theater listings below:

Release Schedule
U.S.A

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